WAUKESHA, Wis. -- The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team staved off a late rally and held on to defeat Carroll University, 86-80, at Van Male Fieldhouse in Waukesha, Wis., on Saturday, Feb. 16. The two teams will meet again at the Shirk Center on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the first round of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin postseason tournament.

With a six-game winning streak, the Titans' records improved to 17-8 overall and 10-6 in the CCIW while the Pioneers are now 11-14 overall and 7-9 in the CCIW. The Carroll loss, coupled with an Elmhurst loss to North Central, gave the Pios the No. 5 seed in the league tourney.

Five players scored in double figures for IWU, led by senior Brady Rose with 20, going 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Senior Colin Bonnett had 17 and sophomore Grant Wolfe had 14 points and made 5 of 7 from the field. Sophomores Doug Wallen and Charlie Bair contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Wallen getting a team-high seven boards as IWU narrowly outrebounded Carroll, 25-23.

The Titans started slowly, falling behind 9-0 in the first 2:23 but 3-pointers by Jason Gregoire and Wolfe got IWU back to within three. IWU trailed by eight at 18-10 before a nine-point surge provided a 19-18 lead midway through the first.

The game, which saw seven lead changes and five ties, was not without late drama - IWU saw an 11-point lead of 82-71 with 2:44 to play dissipate with a 9-0 Carroll run, paring the Titan lead to a two-point advantage at 82-80 with 34 seconds left. Two free throws each by Gregoire and Wolfe sealed the win.

Kale Maupin and Ray Pierce each scored 14 and Ryan Clarey scored 11 points for the Pios.